Rolls-Royce Black Badges sneak up on Goodwood

Driving a Rolls-Royce is an exercise in being seen, but that doesn't necessarily mean you need to shout with chrome and flashy wheels. To reinforce that point, Rolls-Royce will be running Black Badge versions of the Wraith and Ghost up the hill at Goodwood, with more torque and a paint job to make a stealth bomber jealous.

Wraith Black Badge

The 465-kW (624-hp) Wraith was already the most powerful Rolls-Royce, but it's been given a handy 70 Nm (52 lb-ft) torque boost to 870 Nm (642 lb-ft) for the run up Lord March's driveway. Perhaps they were worried the standard car would run out of puff halfway up?

Rolls-Royce engineers have also revised the suspension and gearbox to better deal with sporty driving, making it easier for driver Justin Law to put on a show for the Goodwood crowd.

Eagle-eyed readers will have already noticed the Black Badge is, well, black – right down to the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament. That color is actually called Black Badge Black, and involves multiple layers of paint and lacquer being extensively hand-polished as they're applied. The result is, according to Rolls-Royce, the deepest, darkest and most intense black ever seen on a production car.

Inside, things aren't quite so dark thanks to black-and-red contrast leather, as well as the aerospace-grade carbon fiber composite surfacing on the dashboard fascia.

Ghost Black Badge

Like its smaller counterpart, the Ghost has been tweaked for sportier driving up the hill at Goodwood. Peak power is now 450 kW (603 hp), a boost of 30 kW (40 hp) compared to the standard car, while there's also 820 Nm (605 lb.ft) of torque available to the Rolls-Royce team member behind the wheel, which is 40 Nm (30 lb-ft) more than before. All that power is more readily available, thanks to a remapped eight-speed automatic gearbox.

On the outside,the Ghost has been granted the same Black Badge Black paint job and 21-inch wheels as the Wraith, while the Spirit of Ecstasy badge has again been finished in a high-gloss black to match the black grille, air intakes and exhaust.

Unlike the red-and-black interior on the Wraith, the Ghost's cabin is finished in blue-and-black leather, although the carbon-composite dashboard trim is unchanged.

Both these cars will be on display at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, which is currently underway.

The Rolls-Royce Wraith on the move outside the brand's Goodwood factory

The blacked-out, Black Badged Rolls-Royce pair

The Black Badge gets a power boost compared to regular models

Rolls-Royce says the Black Badge paint job is the deepest, most intense finish ever applied to a production car

The Black Badge Ghost sits on new 21-inch wheels

Rolls-Royce Black Badge Wraith will run up the hill at Goodwood

The Black Badge might melt into the background if you're not careful

The Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament has been blacked out

The Ghost's blue leather is the only bright color on the car's design

The cabin is finished in a special carbon-composite

The Wraith is the most powerful Rolls-Royce

The Infiniti symbol under the clock is unique to the Black Badge

There's no shiny chrome, it's all blacked out here

The unique carbon weave on the dashboard of the Black Badge cars

Both cars sit on unique 21-inch wheels

A far more subtle Spirit of Ecstasy

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